by John of Colorado clrdjhn@yahoo.com
Farmer turned Rancher
If you are not of age or man/man sex bothers you, or this illegal in your area, then I suggest you leave NOW! Why are you still here, I told you to leave! The names have been changed but the story itself is basically based upon facts. However, most of it is fiction.
Chapter 10
That night we teased Scott a little, but he didn't let it bother him. He had found his true love. Jeremy set me on fire and we had a very good love session, even with Scott near us. We invited him to join us but he politely refused our offer.
We were up early, had breakfast and headed to the North Ranch. We loved this ranch very much. There were gentle rolling hills all covered with good grass for the cattle. A little creek meandered down and across the middle of the fertile valley. We were very pleased with our purchase.
We met the foreman who was running the ranch. He had 3 grown sons acting as ranch hands. All four of them agreed to stay on and work for us. Again, we were most fortunate as good reliable help is hard to find.
We had lunch and headed back to the Wallace home. Everything was going fine until we stopped to rest the horses and give them a drink. When Scott stepped down from the wagon, a rattlesnake struck and bit him on the lower leg.
Mr. Wallace was right there and took care of the snake. He then tied his belt very tightly between the snake bite knee. He took out his very sharp pocket knife and made an X cut over the wound. He asked us if any of us had teeth with no cavities. I said I had fine teeth. Mr. Wallace said that was good because I was in not danger of infecting myself with the snake poison when I sucked the poison out. Mr. Wallace told me to be careful and not swallow any of the poison or I would be in worse shape than Scott. So I sucked, spit, sucked, spit for what seemed like forever. Finally, Mr. Wallace stopped me.
We had to keep Scott calm, so that he wouldn't cause his heart to beat faster and spread the poison if there was any left in his leg. Alice took over, cuddled and soothed Scott .
Mrs. Wallace had a loaf of bread and a jar or cream that was given her and she was taking it home. She made a thick poultice using the bread and cream mixed together, making a thick paste and applied it to Scott's wound. She wrapped a clean dish cloth around the leg and tied it very tightly. She said that as the poultice dried, it would draw any remaining poison out of the leg.
Jeremy and I had our doubts, but we didn't argue with Mrs. Wallace... After all, she was older than both of us put together and had lived in the wilderness all her life. You soon learned how to survive. Alice and Scott rode in the back of the buggy and Mrs. Wallace drove it home. I wanted to, but again, no need to argue a losing battle.
Alice worked her magic and soon Scott was sound asleep resting his head in her lap. You could see love written all over her face. Scott was one lucky man.
Finally, we reached the ranch. Jeremy and I made a chair with our arms and carried Scott into the house and laid him on a bed. Mrs. Wallace took off the poultice and showed it to us. It was completely hard and in the very center which was over the bite was a large yellow spot. Mrs. Wallace said that was the last of the poison. The redness and swelling had almost gone down completely. She wanted to put a good disinfectant on it, thus keeping down any chance of infection along with another poultice just to be sure .
She made a believer out of us. She told us that a poultice was good for insect bits, bee & scorpion stings, and cuts that were infected. Mrs. Wallace said a poultice was very good to put on boils and that it would bring them to a head and siphon all the infection out. I knew that we would remember this and would use it from time to time. She told us not to use it on burns, just to use the cream alone and it would take the fire out and it was also very good for sunburns. I agreed because Mom had used cream on my sunburns all the time.
The Wallaces told us that they were going to keep Scott for several days so they could watch for complications. If need be, they could go to the Campbell Ranch and get a doctor. They thought that now Scott was going to be ok. It had been long enough since the bite that if anything was going to happen, it would have by now. Of course, Scott was shaking his head yes and grinning from ear to ear. Anything to be near Alice.
Scott stayed at the Wallace place until it was time for us to go to the rairoad station and complete our deal with Mr. Campbell. He came in one day and we left the next day. Scott had that certain glow and we all knew that wedding bells were in the near future. He was completely recovered from his snake bite. In fact, he didn't even get sick and had no sign of any infection. The only sign of sickness was `love sickness'!
We met Mr. Campbell and went to the bank and had them issue him a bank draft. He didn't want to travel with all that money. He could take the draft to a bank in the east and get his money, if he so desired, or he could just open an account and put into it. We went to a lawyer and had him draw up all the papers to transfer the property and cattle to our names. He also signed his registered brand over to us and now we had our very own brand.. We could throw away that old make-shift thing we had been using and which everyone in the whole world could duplicate.
The Campbells were in luck and were able to catch a train that evening..
We were camped just outside of town and would head back in the morning.. We ran into a couple of our `freighter' friends. We were glad to see them and invited them to our camp for a little entertainment. They told us that the rest of the guys had already moved west and they were getting ready to head west within the week. We informed them that we could use some extra hands, but they wanted to go to California. We got Scott a room in the hotel so he wouldn't have to go through a bunch of embarrassment.
Jeremy and I headed out to the camp and cooked dinner, simple as it was. We were just sitting around the camp fire when our friends showed up. The excitement was in the air. Scott didn't know what he would be missing. By the time the guys' feet hit the ground, Jeremy and I were already taking our clothes off. The guys were just behind us. The four of us were ready. Jeremy and I each took a partner and the party was on.
The next day, we headed back to the ranch. We got some supplies- a large sack of flour, one of sugar, a sack of coffee for Grandma and some treats for the kids. We knew that she wanted to cure our craving for sweets and fancy breads. Grandma was the best cook and baker in the whole state of Texas. The best part was that she had all four kids in the kitchen, helping her. They were picking up her knack of cooking.
We made arrangements to bring a herd of cattle in and send them to market on the train. The buyer at the stockyards wanted them before the big cattle drives arrived. He told us that we would get better prices before the big rush and the market was flooded.
We had 3 weeks to round up the cattle and have them in the pens. Time was very valuable. Everyone would have to pitch in and help with the roundup. Even the kids would be of great help. The older women would become the cooks and the younger ones would help with the round-up. The young mothers would keep all the real young children at home and take care of them for us.
When we reached the ranch, We decided to divide up and go to the different valleys (parts of the ranch) and get the round-up started. Grandma would take the girls and go to the valley the Chavez's lived in. Jeremy would take the North Ranch. The boys and I would take Uncle Big Man's valley and then cut cross county to the Campbell home ranch. Scott, of course, would take the Wallace ranch. Every section was to send a person to the Campbell Ranch. I was going to hire any additional help, I could find
and when the representatives arrived, I would send the additional help back home with them.
The beehive was started. There would be no idle time and everyone had a big responsibility. The cattle had to be sorted. We would keep all the Cows, bulls and calves.
All steers and 2 year old yearlings, along with all the cattle that was not branded or the strays that we had collected and everything going to market were to be taken to the large center field on the home place and held there until we were all ready to go to market.
In 2 weeks, we had all the cattle ready to go. After a tally Jeremy and I discovered that we had $20,000 worth of cattle ready for market. After we gave everyone their share, we figured that we could clear about $13,000. Not bad for a year's work.
We made it to the railhead, just in time. Not only were we on schedule but we only lost 14 head on the drive. Those were some of the wild cattle that we just couldn't keep in the herd. So we finally just gave up on them and let them go. They were more trouble than they were worth.
The buyer paid us in cash and we split it up and gave the people their shares. We all went on a buying spree and got our winter supplies. Jeremy, Scott, Jack Carlos and I put our money in the bank. We left word at the bank, that we would be buying good cattle-no wild ones. The bank said they would send prospective sellers our way. Also that we would be in the market for land that adjoins ours.
We loaded the wagons and headed home.
What we didn't know is that Grandma and the girls had all the women and children that were left behind, all together at the home place, and they were planning a big party for us when we returned. We didn't know that Scott was coming home on a fast horse to let them know when we would arrive at the house. He kept a straight face the whole time. He sure would make a good poker player. We though he was just in a hurry to see Alice, who had stayed behind to help the women folk.
We did not know anything was up until we rode into the yard and everyone came running out of the barn yelling Surprise! Surprise! They had a feast for us and Grandma had some of her best wine out! We all cleaned up and went into the barn and started our celebration. We used this as a time for Thanksgiving. We played, danced, and sang, most of the night. This was the start of a tradition that would be followed for years to come.
The biggest surprise of all came when Scott and Alice announced that they were getting married. Alice had the preacher there at the party. They had the ceremony that night. Scott and Alice would have the use of house. We moved everyone out of the house and into the barn.
Jeremy and I gave them the title to the Campbell Ranch. The house was all ready for someone to move into, and they were the ones. We had already given Uncle Big Man's Valley to Jack Carlos and Julie and her family. Jack Carlos and Scott were to remain partners even though they each had their own place.
Editor's Notes: Well, it certainly looks like things are getting settled into some very good things happening. This is the next to the last chapter of this story. We will find out exactly what will happen, next time. See you then.
Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher